The White Forest Strider
by ApacheTheWriter
Summary: My perspective on the Strider you encounter in White Forest in Half Life 2: Episode 2.


The White Forest Strider

A piece of shit perspective on the white forest strider, who's cut-scene is my favorite from half life.

Nomad 12 activated suddenly. Letting out a sustained whoop, the massive synth rose to its three spindly, 30 foot tall legs and downloaded it's mission objective. In the strider's native language, the orders were to eliminate a rebel base in White Forrest to clear the way for overwatch.  
>The strider stomped out of its bay and into the tall, narrow halls of the citadel it called home. It made its way to the freight elevator designed especially for synths of its variety and the Stalker operating the elevator directed it to dropship hangar 4.<br>Arriving At it's destination, the strider lumbered over to the waiting dropship, another synth that looked fairly aquatic. Even in flight, it moved its 4 main appendages, each tipped with a jet engine, as if it were swimming- in stark contrast to the strider's own appearance. The strider possessed three spindly long legs, each ending in a sharp spike. It's thorax contained it's organs, brain, and cyborg circutry, while its small head held 4 compound eyes and a rapid-firing pulse turret. Hanging from it's thorax was one of the combines most powerful weapons, the warp cannon. The strider was comfortable on land.

Nomad 12 assumed the standard deployment position. It laid down with it's legs compactly tucked underneath of it. The dropship emitted a few whoops before activating it's engines and rising off the floor like a harrier jet. It maneuvered over the strider with its four jet appendages aimed at the ground and it's frontal maneuvering fins splayed out. It's suction cupped grasping appendages located under it's flat main body grabbed on to the strider's thorax and lifted off. The pair of cyborgs began the trip to the drop zone.

Nomad 12's dropship Flew over city 17 before finally reaching the city limits. They were over the town of White Forest when a laser guided missile slammed into the dropship. Letting out a pained wail, the creature rapidly dropped before smashing into a stream.

Nomad 12 reactivated and began a situational assessment. The strider could feel a crushing weight on top of it and-

Voices.

A human female, with speech patterns matching the Vance Subprime, was talking just 20 feet from the strider.

Lifting up the drop-ship and letting the unfortunate creature drop to the ground behind it, the strider's compound eyes took in the scene in front of it. Anticitizen one and the Vance subprime were standing directly in front of it. Elimination of the benefactor's two most wanted humans would surely result in retirement and reward. Nomad 12 triumphantly fixed it's pulse turret on the two humans.

But then it heard a noise it didn't recognize.

Standing on a log overhanging a cliff into the stream bed was a most curious robot. The strider would have no interference with it's directives however and fired off a burst of pulse fire before charging up it's mighty warp cannon and firing, obliterating the log, part of the cliffside, and presumably the robot as well.  
>No such luck, As the robot flew out of the debris and landed on the strider's face. The strider thrashed around and threw off the robot.<br>And felt a massive jolt of pain.  
>The robot had torn the integrated pulse turret out of it's face.<br>The strider shuddered as it retched up blood and coolant before vengefully pursuing the robot where it had thrown it. Spotting it, the strider attempted to stomp the robot with its spiked legs. The robot, however, craftily knocked one of it's legs off the side of the small overhang they were fighting on, and then knocked the strider's head into the adjacent cliff wall. Now stunned, the strider could do nothing but stumble around as the robot pounded on it's head and tore off one of it's biological armor plates. The robot, now triumphant, sighted on the strider's brain, and ripped it out. With one last mournful wail, Nomad 12 collapsed onto the ground. The last thing it heard before it's consciousness faded away was the Vance subprime congratulating the robot on a job well done.

The end.

Author's notes=

I'm a terribad writer. This was written on an iphone one night when i was bored. Judge me all you want, please. It only helps me improve.

If you want to watch the cut scene upon which this story was based, YouTube "dog vs strider".

Also, check out the combine OverWiki for pics of the strider, dropship, D0g, Alyx, and anything else.

The synths are truly cool and one of the best enemy varieties in the game. The idea of taking beasts from another world and bio-engineering them into war machines is really evil empire-y and  
>contributes to the image of the Combine.<p>

That's all folks. Hope y'all enjoyed.


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